The PGA Tour is "not ready to release" its revamped '18-19 schedule ahead of The Players next week, as was previously expected, according to GOLFWEEK's Forecaddie. The schedule "isn't quite ready for public consumption," and it should "not come as a huge shock." The delay is a "welcome sign that all efforts are being made to save the Houston Open." There have been "well-chronicled sponsorship issues" in Houston, at The National in DC and the Dell Technologies Championship in Boston, as well as "possible new stops" in Detroit and Minneapolis. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan’s team "undoubtedly still has multiple I’s to dot with existing events that still might see changes in timing, television coverage or other nuts-and-bolts issues with venues." The wait will continue "likely until late June after the U.S. Open" (GOLFWEEK.com, 5/2).
LOOKING FOR A PARTNER: In Houston, Dale Robertson notes Astros Owner & Chair Jim Crane admits he is now "front and center in efforts to secure a sound financial future" for the Houston Open, which was played this spring without a title sponsor and "faces the prospect of being dropped from the PGA Tour calendar if it can't find major backing soon." Sources said that the Tour has given Houston until "early-mid June to pull together a viable sponsorship package" that figures to cost at least $12M annually, with much of that "going toward ad buys during the NBC telecasts." The next Houston Open would be "held in either mid-May, possibly as a lead-in to the PGA Championship that's moving to late spring from its traditional August dates, or June 6-9 prior to the U.S. Open." Crane declined to say definitively whether he would "go forward on his own, branding the tournament with the name of one of the companies he controls, or in concert with the Houston Golf Association" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 5/3).
WAIT & SEE: A Wells Fargo official said that the bank is still "reviewing its options before deciding whether to renew as title sponsor of its namesake Charlotte golf tournament" at Quail Hollow Club after '19. Wells Fargo Charlotte region President Kendall Alley said that the decision is "complex because the tournament’s place on the PGA Tour schedule after next year is still being finalized." In Charlotte, Rick Rothacker in a front-page piece notes Quail Hollow is also hosting The Presidents Cup competition in '21, and it is "not clear if the course would be able to host a second event that year." Alley said that Wells Fargo has "already had preliminary talks on renewing its contract, but those discussions will heat up later this year" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/3).
